Leader I'm Thinking About...

Everybody in the world born before October 27, 1962 probably owes their life to Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov. Chances are, you've never heard of him. 

Archipov was the Russian naval officer who, on this day, refused to fire a nuclear torpedo at an American aircraft carrier--and by doing so, averted the probability of a third world war and thermo-nuclear destruction across the planet.

Today, 57 years ago, US Navy warships located the Soviet submarine "B-59" near Cuba. They dropped depth charges to force the submarine to come to the surface, not knowing that it was armed with a nuclear-tipped torpedo with roughly the power of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

The sub’s crew had been traveling for nearly four weeks without surfacing, and were tired and unaware of what was going on around them. They had little communication with Moscow.

The Americans continued to drop depth charges left and right of the hull. Inside, the sub was rocking, shaking with each new explosion.

The captain, Valentin Savitsky, believed that nuclear war had already broken out between the Soviet Union and the US, and he ordered the B-59's ten kiloton nuclear torpedo to be prepared for firing. Its target was the USS Randolf, the giant aircraft carrier leading the task force.

Before an attack could not be launched, however, all three senior officers aboard the sub had to agree. Arkhipov, the second-in-command, stood up to be counted and was the lone dissenting voice.

Arkhipov told the captain that the ship was not in danger. It was being asked to surface. Dropping depth charges left then right, noisy but always off target — those are signals, Arkhipov argued. They're saying, "We know you’re there. Identify yourselves. Come up and talk." Arkhipov vehemently argued that since no orders had come in a long time, such a drastic action as firing the nuclear torpedo was ill-advised and the sub should surface to contact Moscow.

It did so and was met by a US destroyer. The Americans didn’t board. There were no inspections. Instead, the Russians turned away from Cuba and headed north, back to Russia.

As they did so, Khrushchev, after a thirteen-day stand-off, offered to dismantle the Cuban bases if Kennedy lifted the blockade, and promised not to invade Cuba. The crisis was over.

It's an extraordinary lesson in character-based, discerning leadership, and in maintaining the force of personal conviction when you know you're doing the right thing. Great leaders, like Arkhipov, embrace their education, instincts and training in times of stress and uncertainty. And they see the big picture!

By the way, Vasili Arkhipov went on to be promoted to rear admiral in 1975, and retired in the mid-1980s. He died in 1999 at the age of 73 from complications due to radiation poisoning he'd suffered early in his naval career. So, this week is a good time to think about this one man--this Quiet Professional--who quite literally, saved the world. 

#History#leadership